Multiplicity
by Unoriginality
Summary: <html><head></head>There was a strange freedom for Edward to trust Envy.</html>


_"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses"_

Proverbs 27:6 NIV

There is a strange sort of freedom in giving trust to an enemy.

Edward's head is pillowed against Envy's thigh as he reads over the notes from the class he's been sitting in on at the university. Envy is boredly twisting a bit of Edward's hair around his finger, half-dozing as the young Elric studies.

There is a strange freedom in giving trust to an enemy.

Edward has spent most of his life behind carefully guarded walls. Secrets kept hidden from the world, each move and word watched and chosen with an almost paranoid fear of discovery, tears kept hidden from everyone, even his precious brother.

There is a strange freedom in giving trust to an enemy.

Envy opens his eyes and looks down at Edward; the alchemist notices the movement out of the corner of his eye and looks up at him. They sit quietly a moment, exchanging a look while the fire crackles and pops in the fireplace, warming the room in the drafty old German castle. Envy untangles his finger from the lock of hair he's been playing with and catches a tight grip on Edward's hair, pulling slightly. Edward hisses and tilts his head to ease the pressure on his scalp, eyeing Envy challengingly. The homunculus smirks and leans down, capturing Edward's lips with his own, teeth scraping against the skin just hard enough to draw blood.

Envy has spent his whole life nursing a grudge, a centuries-old secret that was as well-hidden as his namesake, out of sight down in the deepest recesses of a once-human heart, a wound that festered and burned and infected and killed and rebirthed over and over again. It's been his secret, and his secret alone.

There is a strange freedom in giving trust to an enemy.

The sin growls as Edward bites down on his lower lip, dominating the kiss; Envy draws his head back, teeth bared at Edward.

"What's the matter, Envy?" Edward smirks as he marks his place in his book and snaps it shut. "I'm trying to _study_."

There are no secrets here; what both have hidden for so long are known between the two of them, and more importantly, are inconsequential. There's no taboos, nothing that has to be kept hidden or feared, just a quietly desperate need, a loneliness, an understanding and companionship in a world foreign to them both, far out of reach of the home they were cast from.

There is a strange freedom in giving trust to an enemy.

"I'm _bored_," Envy snaps back, tightening his grip on Edward's hair.

Edward smirks and sets his book down on the floor next to the couch. "I didn't realize I was here to entertain you."

Envy's grin turns toothier, if it were possible. "Then what _are_ you here for, Shorty?"

Edward frowns, tilting his head back to look at Envy more directly. "Because someone has to come up here and keep a fire in the fireplace before you freeze to death, you lazy bastard." An excuse. Everything is hidden between the lines, unspoken, but trusted.

Envy scowls, tightening his grip and leaning back down, until his breath is hot against Edward's lips. "I've told you, Shorty," he growls, pausing to nip Edward's lips, "hard to start fire with talons."

Edward lifts a hand, curling it around the back of Envy's neck, getting his own grip on the sin's hair. "You haven't even tried, I'll bet," he replies with a grin before capturing Envy's lips sharply.

Envy shifts his position, getting up on one knee and leaning over Edward as he bites his lips, licking at the blood his teeth draw. Edward tears his lips away, burying his face against Envy's neck. Envy runs his tongue along Edward's pulse before resting his head against Edward's shoulder.

There is silence for a few minutes as they stay that way, breath hot against skin, tight grips on hair causing pin pricks of pain along the scalp. Edward is the first to break the silence, lips brushing against Envy's neck as he speaks. "You didn't deny it."

Envy huffs and bites down on Edward's shoulder, moving his other hand to Edward's collar, fighting with the buttons.

There is a strange freedom in giving trust to an enemy.


End file.
